Bars and restaurants are open, but many imbibers have apparently grown fond of drinking outdoors in parks and on streets, at least in Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

Outdoor drinking parties became more common during COVID-19 states of emergency in Tokyo when bars and restaurants voluntarily closed or shortened their business hours.

Government authorities during these periods urged the public to avoid closed, crowded environments.

The last state of emergency in the capital has long been lifted, and business operations are returning to normal.

Yet the outdoor drinking habit persists.

NOISE, LITTER

On one Friday night in mid-October, groups of individuals were seen sipping canned beer at 11:30 p.m. in front of a convenience store near Shibuya Station. Only a few were wearing masks.

Some of the young drinkers were sitting down despite a warning from a speaker by the road telling them not to stop there.

A 24-year-old from Yokohama who was chatting with former school friends with a can of “chuhai” (shochu highball) in her hand said it was her first street party.

“This seems no different from drinking at restaurants,” she said.

A drinking companion grinned and agreed.
“Chugging alcohol outside is actually refreshing,” said the man, 24. “Another appeal is that we do not need to be worried about the coronavirus.”

In the Dogenzaka 2-chome district in Shibuya Ward, young people were drinking past midnight in an outdoor parking lot close to an area lined with eateries and nightclubs.

A nearby resident complained about their poor manners.

“They speak so loudly that we cannot sleep soundly,” the resident said. “We find litter scattered around in the morning. It’s terrible.”

On the night of Oct. 29, consuming alcoholic beverages in public around Shibuya Station was prohibited to prevent crowds from gathering there for Halloween.

But some costumed people marched through the famed Shibuya Center-gai street while drinking.

According to a shopping district operator in Shibuya, more people started partying on streets and at parks around 2020, when pubs and restaurants suspended operations or shortened business hours during the state of emergency.

The central government warned that people who talk loudly with no masks, even outdoors, are at higher risk of infection.

Store operators around Shibuya Station in April last year asked the ward government for countermeasures against outdoor drinking.

The Tokyo metropolitan government’s specialized measures to avert a rebound in infections were lifted in May this year.

Shops and stores designated as implementing sufficient anti-infection measures now face no regulations, and consumers can wine and dine at restaurants until late at night.

But swaths of people are still drinking on roads and in parks.

“The problem is not limited to Shibuya,” Shibuya Ward Mayor Ken Hasebe said. “Many areas home to entertainment districts are troubled by this issue.”

USED TO IT

Shoji Tsuchida, a social psychology professor at Kansai University, said people have grown accustomed to drinking outdoors.

“The new practice amid the coronavirus crisis has regrettably taken hold,” Tsuchida said.

He said people had largely refrained from drinking in public before the pandemic hit because such behavior was frowned upon in society.

But during the state of emergency, drinking outdoors became more “acceptable,” Tsuchida said.

Many street drinkers said that even with normal business hours in place, there are still few eateries where they can drink late at night.

A 25-year-old man in a suit and his company colleague, 22, were attending an outdoor party at Shibuya Ward-run Miyashita Park, which was packed with both Japanese and non-Japanese people.

“When we tried to enter a pub, we were told that now is the time for last orders,” he said. “So we decided to drink outside instead.”

He and his co-worker bought beverages at a convenience store.

“This is cheaper than drinking at a pub,” the colleague said.

The Tokyo-based Japan Foodservice Association, comprising restaurant operators nationwide, said major pub chains are not keeping their outlets open through dawn despite the cancellation of government requests for shorter business hours.

“It is difficult for them to operate as long as they did before due to a number of reasons,” an association representative said. “For example, worker numbers may have not recovered from the staffing cuts made during the tentative closures.”

One person in Shibuya is hoping for a return of public “manners” for the security, safety and cleanliness of the ward.

“Some restaurants are open late at night,” the person said. “Those who want to drink should go there instead of the outdoor areas.”

(This article was written by Sho Tanji and Roppei Tsuda.)